Man in property feud with town gets home to find building sliced in half

December 13th, 2019

By Marco Valens

Contributor at Spotlight

Property disputes that go on for years can inspire people to do the most bizarre things to gain an upper hand over their neighbors. One property dispute in Ruggles Township, Ohio, resulted in a very strange solution by local officials who were fed up with the whole situation.

Local officials find an innovative, yet strange solution to a long-running dispute

Brett Galloway complained that the township officials erected a building that partly occupied his land. The building was used to store equipment.

“It is pretty much the most ridiculous thing ever,” Galloway told WJW.

He went on to describe how he tried to negotiate with the local authorities for months, but they’ve been unable to come to an agreement that would be satisfying to both sides. Since they failed to reach an agreement, the authorities put up a fence cut down the building, splitting it in half. However, a third of the original building still remains on Brett’s property. The officials plan on tearing it down at some point.

To make things more complicated for him, Bratt has another, unrelated property dispute with the township.

The media attempted to reach out to township officials and hear their side of the story but the journalists were told to contact the township’s legal counsel.

According to the country prosecutor, no agreement could be reached with Brett Galloway, which prompted the authorities to pull down the building. Galloway would not allow them on their property, they said, so their only solution was to demolish the building.

A building sliced in two

With no solution in sight, the building remains cut in two with a fence dividing the two pieces. It has become a sort of a local attraction but also attracted widespread media attention. The locals described the whole affair as a waste of taxpayer money.

With no solution in sight, the building is likely to stay sliced

Is a solution as bizarre as this better than no solution at all? Apparently, the townships ‘consider the matter finished’. The epilogue to this story is a part of a building that Bret doesn’t want on his property and the townships left with a garage they can’t use.

A dispute that benefits no one will likely continue, to the detriment of both sides. What would you do with a building sliced in two and one part of it stranded on your property?